Revoke amended law to save Aravalis: Activists tell government

GURUGRAM: A group of around 50 residents and activists along with school and college students formed a human chain in protest against rampant encroachments in Aravalis and other violations of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900 in the city on Saturday.
They stood silently on the road side outside John Hall, holding posters and banners saying “withdraw Punjab Land Preservation Act Amendment Bill 2019” and “Aravali Bachao” as Manohar Lal Khattar’s convoy zoomed past them on its way to a grievance redress meeting that the CM chaired.
Irked by the state assembly’s decision to pass a bill to amend PLPA, 1900, the group held a demonstration, a part of the ongoing series of protests to save Aravalis. “This amended bill seeks to make the Act totally redundant in the state as it will open up 33% of the area currently treated as forest land (under PLPA) in Haryana for urbanisation and real estate development at a time when the state has the lowest forest cover, a mere 3.59% as against the national average of 20%,” said Vaishali Rana Chandra, an environmental activist. The bill was passed on February 27, 2019 to amend PLPA, 1900.
The protesters pointed out that the Supreme Court was aghast at the amendment bill and had directed a stay order on its implementation. They also highlighted that the Punjab and Haryana high court last Wednesday had hit out at the state government for delaying the notification of identified Natural Conservation Zones (NCZs) in the state’s National Capital Region. The HC, they said, also observed that the government should “say so” if it was “politically committed” to destroying them.
“If the state notifies the bill, it will become the law leading to opening of 60,000 acres of Aravalis and 10,000 acres in Shivaliks for construction. Another 50,000 acres of forestland are not even protected under any law. So, essentially the entire Aravalis will be destroyed if this bill is notified,” said Simran Seth, a student of DU.